Cars: Sally's Story
by moviefanatic17
Summary: A Novelization of the movie Cars from Sally's point of view.
1. A New Arrival

**Chapter One: A New Arrival**

As the sun was setting in Radiator Springs, Sally Carerra was flipping through a magazine in her motel office. _Oh for Chrysler's sake, I wish someone would come to Radiator Springs! _ The sleepy little town hadn't seen a customer for as long as Sally had been a resident. Given she hadn't really lived there long, but it was still long enough to know that this town was suffering. There were only a few businesses still running, and only a handful of residents. _Someone will notice us, and then we'll be put back on the map. Eventually. _As she read, she could hear Fillmore and Sarge over at Flo's saying something about the yellow traffic light. Then, suddenly, a loud backfiring noise along with the sound of Sheriff's siren was heard making its way up the road. Sally looked out the window of her office and saw a blur of screaming red knock down a line of caution cones on the road. Then as the barely recognizable shape of a car whizzed by, it suddenly veered to the right and was going straight at one of her cones (she owned the Cozy Cone Motel, and all the rooms were giant caution cones). The car screamed and swerved again, heading back across the road. It went right into a barbed wire fence, which got hooked around its front bumper, and then headed towards Flo's Café. By this point, the car was too far down the road to see from the window, so Sally headed out of her cone and sat by Lizzie's Curios Shop. She noticed that the panicked car had knocked down Luigi's tires and was currently hooked around the statue of the town's founder, Stanley. It was then that Sally felt she might not be safe out on the road, so she quickly returned to her office. A few seconds later, the car raced by going the other way, dragging along the statue of Stanley! Then after the car drove by, Sally could no longer hear its engine. She drove out of her office to see something hanging from the telephone wires, which she assumed must be the car. Sally drove closer to see who had caused all this panic. She expected maybe a delirious foreigner or maybe a scared young car. But what she didn't expect was to see the Manufacturer's gift to women. In the telephone wires, caught up by the barbed wire, was a sleek, red racecar, which was apparently unconscious.


	2. Her First Thought

**Chapter Two: Her First Thought**

_Hoooooooly Chrysler! _Sally was startled by the sight that met her. She couldn't stop staring at the racecar. Of course, with his eyes closed, she couldn't tell the color, but even not knowing, he was still _hot_. _Woah, where did that come from? _Not until the others showed up and started to get him untangled from the wires did she snap out of her blankness. Mater and the whole town, with the exception of Doc, worked to bring him down from the wires. Of course, with this mysterious racecar being unconscious, it was easier than if he would have been awake.

"What are we going to do with him, Sheriff?" Sally asked.

"We'll put him impound, that's what we'll do!"

"Oh, but Sheriff," Sally said, protesting, "Is that really necessary? I mean, he didn't do anything. Wouldn't it be better if we have Doc check to make sure he is okay and then have him stay at the motel until he wakes up?"

The other cars gave her a strange look after she said this. Sheriff was the first to speak.

"Huh. Well I figured you'd be the first one to throw him into the impound, especially seeing what he did to the road!"

_What? What are they talkin…? _Sally turned around and drove back towards the main drag of town. She gasped as she realized that while dragging Stanley, the race car had dug up the road! The road now had a large crack running right through it! As she drove down to the statue of Stanley, (which had miraculously landed right back on its pedestal) she thought about how to fix this problem. Sally was deeply hurt by the broken road because she loved their town. She was determined to get Radiator Springs back on the map. _Who will come now with a broken road? _As she headed back to the others, she saw that they had already untangled the mysterious car and had him down onto the ground. Sheriff was in the process of siphoning his gas.

"Just in case he tries to run," Sheriff explained.

And with that, Mater hooked up to the unconscious car and towed him to the impound, while the rest of the town went back to their homes.


	3. Remembering

**Chapter Three: Remembering**

As the sun was coming up in Radiator Springs, Sally headed out of her office and down towards the impound. She hadn't slept very well the night before because she had spent most of the night trying to think of ways to fix the road…and about how to deal with the cause of the ruins. She was going to the impound to see if the car had waken up yet. She wanted to see if he was ok, because for all they knew he could be injured. When she got there, she stopped by the closed fence and looked at the still unconscious car. _He still hasn't waken up? Should we be worried? No no no, he's fine. I need to think. _The trial for his punishment was to be held later in the day. As she was the town attorney, she needed to think of proper punishment. Sally figured she had time to go for a drive and clear her thoughts. _And maybe a nap. _

As Sally swerved the damaged road, she got to the court house. No one was there yet, as most everyone was either still sleeping or at Flo's. She turned left at the courthouse and took the winding road around Radiator Cap, and parked in a small valley off to the side of the road. She thought about everything in her life for a while; the road, her motel, her old life in L.A., her new life here, the new car and his punishment.

After a few hours later, Sally woke up in the shade of the valley. _Oh my gosh, the trial!_ Doc wouldn't like her being late, so she quickly sped off to the courthouse. As she got to the closed doors, she tried to prepare herself. She quickly put on a professional smile and drove into the courthouse.


	4. The Trial

**Chapter Four: The Trial**

"Sorry I'm late, your honor." As she said this, the accused car turned around. His eyes got very big and she swore she heard him say "Holy Porsche." She could have said the same thing (slightly modified, of course) after seeing him. His eyes, which she couldn't see before, were a stunning shade of blue. _No no no, focus. …I wonder what his name is…Sally Carrera, STOP IT!! You need to focus. Oh, but his eyes! Ugh! Oh well, here I go. _As she drove to the front of the room, a smooth voice greeted her.

"Hey, thanks for coming, but we're all set. He's letting me go."

_What? _

"He's letting you go?" Sally said confused. _How could they have decided that?_

"Yeah, you're job is pretty easy today," the car continued. "All you have to now is stand there and let me look at you."

_Huh?_

"I'm gonna cut right to the chase," the car said, charmingly, "me, you, diner. Pa-ch-kow! Ka-chow!" he cried as he blinded her with a lightning shaped sticker on his fender.

"Oh, ugh, please!" she said. The bright light was a shock to her, as she was still a little tired from her nap. _okay…I was definitely wrong about this guy. _

"I know," the car continued, "I get that reaction a lot. I create feelings in others that they themselves don't understand." And with that, the racecar revved his powerful engine very loudly.

"Oh, ow!" Sally cried, as the noise was also a shock to her.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said, seducing, "Did I scare you?" At this, Mater spoke up.

"Well a little bit, but I'll be alright." This resulted in a roll of the eyes from the car, and an annoyed sentence from Sally. _Who does he think he is? Jeeze…_

"Uh, ok." she said, putting on a sarcastic smile. "I'm gonna go talk to the judge."

"Do what you gotta do, baby" he said with a wink. "Ooh, but listen, be careful, folks around here are not firing on all cylinders, if you know what I mean."

_What? What is he talking about? I am one of the folks around here! Oh…I get it! _Now it all came to her. _He thinks I'm __**his**__ attorney! _Sally decided to never tell him otherwise. _This oughta be fun! _

"I'll keep that in mind." She put on a smile as she decided to shock the arrogant racecar. "Hey there Mater."

"Howdy Sally!"

"Hi folks," she said smiling. A series of "Hi Sally" greetings followed. She turned and looked at the racecar, who now, instead of a calm, cool face, wore an extreme look of shock. _So he finally realized I'm not here to help him. Ha, it's about time._

She smiled to herself as she drove up to Doc Hudson, who was not only the town's doctor, but also the town judge. As she headed to the front, she heard Mater say something about his fiancée and heard a shocked WHAT? from the car.

"Wow Doc, you look great this morning! Did you do something different with your side view mirrors?"

Doc saw right through her feeble attempt. "What do you want Sally?"

"Oh come on Doc, make this guy fix the road, the town needs this." Sally pleaded. While she was thinking earlier, she came up with this idea. At the time, it seemed too harsh. But since meeting him, she felt that this was a perfect way to fix the road.

"No," he said, firmly. "I know his type. Racecar. It's the last thing this town needs," Doc said giving the racecar a mean look. Sally knew she had to change Doc's mind. And she knew how.

"Ok, Doc," she said, "I didn't want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice." And with that she turned to the people of the town. "Fellow citizens," she started, "You're all aware of our town's proud history." She tried to ignore Doc's "Here she goes again" comment and continue her speech. "Radiator Springs: The glorious jewel strong on the necklace of Route 66. The Mother Road! It is our job and our pleasure to take care of the travelers on that stretch of the road."

"Travelers? What travelers?" Sarge asked from the back.

"Ignore him," Fillmore replied to Sarge's outburst.

"But how, I ask you, are we to care for those travelers, if there is no road for them to drive on? Luigi," she said, turning to the little Italian import who owned the town's tire store, "what do you have at your store?"

"Tires," Luigi replied, with a spin of his wheel.

"And what if no one can get to your store?"

"I won't sell any…tires," he replied, his face turning to a look of pure horror. "I will lose a-everything!" he said as he began sobbing.

"And Flo," Sally continued, "What do you have at your store?"

"I have gas. Lots of gas!" This statement from Flo made Ramone and Mater laugh. Sally tried to get back to her speech.

"Okay boys, stay with me. And Flo, what will happen if no one can get to your station to buy gas?"

The Motorama showgirl answered with a sad face. "I'll go out of business and we'll have to leave town." she said, referring to her and her husband, Ramone.  
"And what will happen to all of us if Flo leaves town and closes her station?"

Then as soon as she said that, the town began to realize just how important the road really was.

They all shouted "No Gas!" At this time, Sally thought it would be a perfect moment for her to get the town to help her change Doc's judgment.

"So don't you think the car responsible should fix our road?"

Lizzie, the oldest car in the town (a model T), spoke up. "The only guy strong enough to fix that road is Big Al!"

Ramone answered her, "Lizzie, Big Al left like 15 years ago." And of course, as Lizzie always answered questions that surprised the town, she came up with another comment.

"Then why are you bringing him up, you lemon?"

"Oh he can do it," Sally said, turning her attention back to the racecar. "He's got the horsepower. So what do you want him to do?"

"FIX THE ROAD!"

"Because we are a town worth fixing!" A round of cheers went up from the town, but the courtroom was brought back to silence by the sound of Doc honking his horn.

"ORDER IN THE COURT! Well, it seems like my mind has been changed for me."

Another cheer rang through the court, along with a "Nice ruling" from Fillmore. Sally turned back to the racecar with a smug look on her face, and boy, did he look m-a-d.

"I am SO not taking you to dinner!"

"Ha, that's ok, Stickers," she said, making fun of the stickers that covered his frame, "You can take Bessie."

"Oh man!" Mater cried, "You get to work with Bessie! I'd give my left two lug nuts for something like that!"

"Bessie? Who's Bessie?"

As Sally drove out of the courtroom, she heard the car asking about Bessie. _Boy is he in for a treat_, Sally thought.

After the trial, Sally went over to Flo's to rest and talk, but was quickly approached by Sheriff.

"Sally, I think it'd be best if we went and waited outside town behind the billboard, in case he runs," he said, referring to the racecar. Just until he's hooked up and going." Sally quickly agreed with Sheriff and they sped off down the road to the billboard. Just as Sheriff suspected, a few minutes after they arrived, they heard the sound of a racing engine coming their way, and a few whoops of "Freedom!" Then, as they had planned to happen, they heard the engine start to sputter and then the red racecar stopped right in front of them.

"Out of gas? How can I be out of gas?"

"Boy," Sheriff said with a laugh, "we ain't as dumb as you think we are."

"But…but…but…how…how'd…?"

"We siphoned your gas while you were passed out." Sally said with a smile. She could hardly contain her happiness when she said "Ka-chow!" and blinded him with her mirror.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" After she stopped, she looked at him. And if he didn't look happy before, he definitely didn't look happy now.


	5. Customers

**Chapter Five: Customers**

As she drove back after Mater came to tow him away, Sally thought about how her impression of this race car had changed. From being an attorney, she was very good at profiling people. Her judgment of him had turned to this: he was self-centered, selfish, and very arrogant. As she drove toward Flo's, she stopped and talked to Luigi while Mater got the car hooked up to Bessie. The racecar then reluctantly started to pull Bessie along the road. As she drove over to Flo's, she heard Lizzie telling Red to move so she could get a look at "that sexy hot rod". She looked over at the racecar, whom Mater was talking to, and watched them for a while. Sally studied his frame while he wasn't looking. He was painted a bright, almost cocky red and had an orange and yellow lightning bolt on both sides of his body. There was an orange and yellow 95 on his side, and a large Rust-eze Medicated Bumper Ointment sticker on his hood. Two shiny lightning bolt stickers (the ones he used to blind her before) were on both of his front fenders. His bright blue eyes were narrowed in a look of pure annoyance. _I wonder if he has ever been truly happy. If those eyes would just be happy…oh, that would be so wonderful. Ugh, Sally knock it off. You know that will never happen. He's too arrogant…he's probably never loved anything but money, glory, and himself. I don't like having him here, but this could help the town get back on its feet. If only he'd be a little nicer._

Sally came back to the present when a big bubble of pavement splashed onto the car, and immediately he began to yell, as if very annoyed. She heard him say something about his lucky sticker getting dirty, then him yelling to Red for help. When Red ran away, the car got angry.

"I'm a very famous racecar!" he shouted. At those words Luigi ran out of his shop and eagerly went to the car.

Sally moved closer so she could hear the conversation.

"I have followed racing my entire life-a, my whole life-a!" Luigi said eagerly, along with his employee and best friend Guido. The little forklift only knew Italian (other than the words Pit Stop) but when Luigi was excited, Guido got excited.

"Then you know who I am!" the racecar said excitedly. "I'm Lightning McQueen!"

_Lightning McQueen. _Sally repeated the name to herself over and over. _So that's what his name is. Suits him. Racecar with lightning shaped decals. Should have figured that one out._

Sally then noticed that by the time she looked back, Luigi left and Lightning was once again looking grim. Sally was then alerted by Flo.

"Is that what I think it is?"

Sally looked out at the road. _No, it can't be…can it? _

"Customers? Customers! Customers everyone! Customers! Alright, everyone calm down, it's been a long time and just remember what we rehearsed. Make sure your open please come in signs are out and you all know what to do. Okay? Nobody panics, here we go!" And with that Sally zoomed down the road to meet the two travelers. It turned out to be two vans traveling, and looking lost. Sally came to a stop in front of them and recited her greeting.

"Hello. Welcome to Radiator Springs, gateway to Ornament Valley, legendary for its quality service and friendly hospitality, how may we help you?"

The husband spoke first, "We don't need anything, thank you."

The wife went next " Oh, honey! Ask for directions to the interstate!"

"I don't need directions, Mini, I know exactly where we're going."

"He did the same thing on our trip to Shakopee," the Mini said, talking to Sally. "We were headed up there for the crazy days, and…"

She was quickly cut off by her husband who said, "Ok, really we're just peachy."

As they made their way awkwardly over the road, Fillmore asked if they wanted some organic fuel. They passed, and then Sarge reminded them to stop by Sarge's Surplus Hut. Mini seemed interested, but the husband, Van, quickly stated, "Honey, we have too much surplus." Next it was Sally's turn.

"I do have a map over at the Cozy Cone Motel, and if you do stay we offer a free Lincoln Continental breakfast."

"Honey, she's got a map." Mini said, bribing.

"I don't need a map, I have the GPS Never need a map again, thank you."

Sally watched as the two vans turned down everything the town offered. As they were leaving, Lizzie slapped a few stickers onto Van's bumper, which caused the two vans to want to leave even more. Desperately trying to change their minds, she said to the vans, "Okay, well you know where we are. Tell your friends!"

This was met by a sarcastic "Okay, you bet!" Just as Sally lost hope, the couple's brake lights came on. _Maybe they changed their minds! _Sally watched as the two cars talked to Lightning, who was telling them something rapidly. Then all of a sudden, the two vans left in a greater hurry than they were in before.

"No! Don't leave me here!" Lightning screamed. "I'm in hillbilly hell! My IQ is dropping by the second! I'm become one of them!"

Sally sighed and tried to put on a smile as she turned back to the town folk. "Okay. Don't worry. They know where we are now. They'll tell their friends. You'll see. It's good." But even she didn't believe her words. _There goes our chance. Maybe the last chance we'll have in a long time. Lightning didn't help at all._ Sally sighed again as she drove down the road, away from the angry racecar and the hurt town.


	6. He's Done?

**Chapter Six: He's Done?**

As she left to go back to her office, she thought about their almost success. It seemed like only ten minutes later, Mater was screaming through the town.

"HE'S DONE!"

Sally couldn't believe it so she drove out to where Lightning was with Bessie. The rest of the town was already there looking at the road. Sally got to the front and saw a very exhausted, panting Lightning.

"Look I'm done. I'm finished. Just say thank you, and I'll be on my way. That's all you gotta say."

Sally looked at the road. _It's horrible_! The pavement wasn't smooth, contrary to Mater's shouts that "It rides pretty smooth." The pavement didn't even cover the road in some places.

Sally turned back to Lightning looking hurt. "It looks awful!"

"Well it matches the rest of the town." he said with a sneer.

Sally made a hurt sound, and then heard someone behind her make a crying sound. She backed up and saw Red near tears. "Red…" she called to him, but he drove off crying, knocking down a stack of tires in the process. She turned back to Lightning with anger in her face. "Who do you think you are?"

He returned the anger by saying, "Look, Doc said I could go when the road was done. That was the deal!"

"The deal was," Doc said, rolling up, "that you fix the road. Not make it worse. Now scrape it off! Start over again!"

"Look Grandpa, I'm not a bulldozer, I'm a racecar."

"Oh ho ho ho. Is that right? Then let's just have a little race shall we? Me and you."

"What?" Sally asked surprised.

"Me and you?" Lightning replied with a laugh, "is that some sort of a joke?"

"If you win, you go and I fix the road. If I win, you do the road my way."

"Doc," Sheriff asked, "What are you doing?"

"Look, I don't mean to be rude here, Doc. But you prolly go 0-60 in like, what, 3.5 years?"

"Well then I reckon you ain't got nothing to lose then."

"You know what old timer? That's a wonderful idea. Let's race."


	7. Doc's Challenge

**Chapter Seven: Doc's Challenge**

As Sally drove out to Willie's Butte, she was filled with worry. _What is Doc doing? If Lightning wins, which he surely will, Doc can't pull Bessie! The road will never be fixed, and especially seeing what Lightning did to it today, it is in worse shape than before!_ Sally made her way to the edge of the cliff overlooking the butte. The rest of t he town was already there, having ran out to the butte once the challenge was set. This is crazy! She looked down and saw Luigi and Guido in their full Ferrari fan wear on a lower ledge, closer to the small dirt track. Farther down, on the track, stood Doc and Lightning, along with Sheriff. Sheriff was setting down the rules for the race as Luigi and Guido cheered franticly. While Sheriff was reciting the rules, Sally watched as Stickers talked to himself, jumping around and psyching himself up. _As if he needs to_. Then once the cars understood the rules, Sheriff drove away, and Luigi came up to Lightning. They said something to each other, while Luigi's excited face quickly drooped. Luigi drove away, while Guido stayed by Stickers. He said to something to Guido, who then drove away to meet back with Luigi. This conversation got a roll of the eyes from Lightning. _Ugh, jerk. _Then Sheriff came back and said in a slow voice, "Gentlemen…start…your…engines!"

Doc's motor started with a feeble sputter. Lightning looked and rolled his eyes with a laugh, then started his own engine. The loud roar from the firing of his engine sent chills through Sally's frame. _Wow! Wait, no! Sally, don't you dare start thinking like that! He's arrogant, self centered, and he ruined your road! So what if you just felt something…incredible?_

"Miercole! Check that out!" Ramone said, amazed.

"Mmm-mmm," Flo said, speaking of Lightning's power.

Sally decided to ignore this, even though she was thinking the same thing.

"Great idea, Doc," she said, annoyed. "Now the road will never get done."

At this time, Sheriff moved and Luigi came out with the flag.

"Uno for the money, two for the show, tres to get ready, and cuatro to…I can't believe it!…GO!!!" Lightning sent up a cloud of dust as his back tires spun and he sped off down the track. The town cheered. Even Sally couldn't help herself.

"Yeah!" she said, full of awe. Only then, when the dust settled, did she realize only Lightning took off. Where's Doc? She looked back to the line, where the old blue car was still sitting.

"Doc, see the flag. See this flag? It means go. Here we go. Go!" luigi said, confused.

"Doc, what are you doing man?" Ramone questioned.

"Oh, dear. It's seems I'm off to a poor start," Doc said, sarcastically. "Well, better late than never. Come on, Mater. Might need a little help."

"Uh, ok," the tow truck said as he followed Doc onto the track.

"Do you got your tow cable?"

"Yeah, I always got my tow cable. Why?"

"Oh, just in case."

Meanwhile, Sally looked to the track where she found Lightning already half through the track. He was coming up to the third turn. It's all over, Sally thought sadly.

Then, all of a sudden, Lightning was sliding through the turn and going straight toward the large valley full of cactus. _Oh no!, _Sally thought, as she watched the red car slide down the cliff and out of sight. She heard the sound of his tires spinning in the dirt, but not getting anywhere. Then she heard Doc.

"Hey! Was that floating like a Cadillac, or was that stinging like a Beamer? Cause I'm confused!" Mater laughed a little and Doc continued. "You drive like you fix roads; lousy. Have fun fishing, Mater." Doc then drove through the rest of the course and crossed the finish line, which came with another cheer from the crowd. Sally felt so happy that the racecar hadn't won, though she was wondering if he was ok. She looked back to where Mater had just pulled Lightning out of the valley. He looked ok, except for a few pieces of cactus stuck to his body. _He must be fine. Wow, Doc won! Now Stickers has to stay and fix the road!_


	8. Maybe This Wasn't Such A Good Idea

**Chapter Eight: Maybe This Wasn't Such A Good Idea**

As soon as they got back to town, Sally went to Flo's and talked with some of the town. Meanwhile, Mater was hooking Lightning to a large, plow-like scraper. She watched as Lightning started scraping up the asphalt that he used to "pave" the road. She heard him muttering to himself something about being in California, and something about Dinoco. As she drove by him to get to the Cozy Cone, he gave her an angry look, which she decidedly ignored. By sunset, he had the road scraped off up to Flo's. Sally listened as Ramone offered him a paint job, Fillmore offered him organic fuel (which got a "not that freak juice!" from Sarge), and Flo offered everyone gas. Then she listened for a while, and heard Lightning say something about like "you drive like you fix roads. I'll show him."

Late in the night, after Lightning had finished scraping the road off, he was re-hooked to Bessie and started paving the road again. As everyone else went off to bed, Sally looked down the road to where Sheriff was watching Lightning pull Bessie along the road. Bessie started steaming and let out a large splash of tar all over Lightning.

"Aww, great! I HATE IT! HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE IT!"

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Sally said, regretfully. _Why did I have to insist this? _She sighed as she drove into her office. As she went inside, she heard Lightning yelling.

"Radiator Springs: A Happy Place!" he shouted, sarcastically. Bessie let out another splash of tar onto him, which only got him madder. "Ok Bessie, you think that's funny? Great! I'm talking to Bessie now! I'm talking to BESSIE!"


	9. The New Road

**Chapter Nine: The New Road**

Sally awoke the next morning to the sound of whoops and hollers. She drove out of her office and saw the cause of the noise.

"Wow," she said as drove up to a beautifully new paved stretch of road. _Wow, Lightning must have worked all night! I need to add that to my thoughts about him. He can get things done when he really tries. _Mater was whooping and hollering as Doc drove up to her.

"I bet you the roads on the moon ain't this smooth!" he said, gleefully.

"Doc! Look at this! Should have tossed him into the cactus a lot sooner, huh?"

"Well," the old car responded to her, "he ain't done yet. He's still got a long way to go."

Just the Luigi zoomed by, flung off of Mater's tow cable. Sally had to try that.

"That looks like fun. Mater! I got dibbs, next turn!" Mater hooked onto her bumper and sped down the road and Mater swung her around and let go. _Whooo! This is fun! Where'd Doc go? _She looked back to the spot where he had been, and didn't see him. _Speaking of not seeing someone, where's Lightning?_ She looked over and saw Bessie, but didn't see Lightning anywhere. _Maybe he's sleeping, after working all night. _

But then she heard the sound of a high powered engine running wide open_. OH NO! Did he somehow get past Sheriff and is he running away now? _Sally made sure no one saw her and quickly raced toward the sound of the engine. The sound led her right to…Willies Butte? She hid behind a cactus as she watched what was going on down below. She saw Doc and Sheriff talking on the ledge, and saw Lightning going round the Butte and trying to make the turn he missed the day before. Sally smiled at his determination. She looked back to where Doc and Sheriff were, but neither was there. Sally looked around and found Doc down on the track watching as Lightning, once again, spun out on the turn. Lightning was spitting dirt and knocking a plant off his head while Doc was saying something to him. Lightning said some angry words back to Doc and threw dirt into his face and took off down the track again. After the dust cleared, Doc drove away, back towards town. Sally turned back to where Lightning was on the track. He seemed to be thinking something over as he came up to the turn. Just as he was almost on the turn, he suddenly veered right and went straight over the cliff and into more cacti! _What the-? _She heard him saying "ouch!" Then a giant cactus fell onto him.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!"

Sally was very worried, so she quickly drove back to town. She saw Mater and asked him to go pull Lightning out of the cactus. Then she went back to her office for a while.


	10. An Offer

**Chapter Ten: An Offer**

As Sally came out of her office an hour later, she drove past Lightning, who was muttering to himself as he paved the road. She drove past him and stopped at Luigi's tires, where Guido was repainting the garage doors.

"Oh, Guido, que belisimo!" Guido asked 'what' in Italian. "It looks great! This is great!" she said to him.

"Oh!" Guido said back to her and continued to talk to Luigi, who was washing windows, in Italian.

Sally drove back over to Flo's Café and then watched as Guido went to Lightning and began to air up his tires and spin the cactus off of them, while Luigi tried to sell Lightning some tires. She turned when she heard the sound of Flo's voice.

"Mmm-mmm…Ramone, Ramone!" she said as her husband repainted the fence in front of their house. Sally turned back towards Luigi's when she heard the sound of water. She smiled as she saw Red the fire truck hosing down the 'Leaning Tower of Tires' in front of Luigi's Casa Della Tires. Sally was filled with happiness at the sight of everyone finally taking pride in their town again. _All because of the new road. And him. _She turned back to where Luigi was still dealing with Lightning, who kept refusing his tires. _I guess we could all be nicer to him. I mean, we don't need to make Radiator Springs seem any worse than he thinks it is. _Sally drove over to where Red was and asked him a favor.

"Red? Could you help me out with something? Could you rinse Lightning off and clean him up? Please, Red?"

After Red agreed, they waited until Luigi left. Just as Lightning let out a big sigh, he was hit by a blast of cold water from Red. Sally stood next to Red, watching as all the cactus pieces fell off of him. Then she noticed there was still a piece in the middle of his hood.

"Oooh, Red, you missed a spot. See it? Right there in the hood, right…" Red hit McQueen right in the hood with the water. He kept spraying, despite the protests of "Stop! Please! Ugh, Whoo! Burr, please stop!!", until the cactus flew off.

"Thanks Red." Sally said as he drove away. She faced Lightning and waited until he stopped coughing and sputtering.

"What was that for?" he said angrily.

"Do you wanna stay at the Cozy Cone or what?" _What?! What am I doing?!_

"Huh?"

"Well, if you do, you gotta be clean. Cause even here, in hillbilly hell, we have standards."

"What? I don't get it."

_Sally stop. He won't appreciate it. Just stop talking right now. _

"Well I was just thought I'd say, 'Thank you for doing a great job' so I thought I'd let you stay with me." She realized what she said and quickly blushed and tried to recover. "Oh not with me, but there. Not with me _there_, but _there_ in your _own_ cozy cone, and I'd be in _my_ cone and it's…"

Thankfully, he chose to stop her here. "Wait. Wait, you're being nice to me."

_Stop now Sally! _She tried to shake off her proposition. "Well if you wanna stay in the dirty impound, that's fine. You know, I understand you criminal types."

"No, no, no. Yeah, the Cozy Cone."

"It's newly refurbished." Sally said proudly.

Lightning gave a small chuckle. "Yeah, it's like a clever little twist on motels made out of caution cones, which of course, cars usually try to avoid, but now we're gonna stay in them. Huh, that's funny."

_Ugh, there it is. _Sally gave him an annoyed look. "Figure that all out on your own, did you?" She backed up and said "Cone number one if you want," and drove toward her office. Just as she was almost inside, a voice came from behind her.

"Hey, is that a little pin striping tattoo back there?"

Sally spun around quickly, obviously flustered. "Oh," she said as she backed into a pile of caution cones and nervously laughed. "Oh, you saw that? Just going to be going now. Gonna…Yeah." Just before she backed into her office, she saw him smile. Not a fake, I'm-better-than-all-of-you smile, but a genuine smile. She could feel the heat radiating through her frame. _What is happening to me?_


	11. Goodnight

**Chapter Eleven: Goodnight**

_Wow. That was aaaaawkward! Why did I go and do that? AND WHY AM I STILL BLUSHING?! _To say the least, Sally had a lot on her mind. She sat in her office for the next part of the day, too nervous to go out in case Lightning was out there. Then finally, around sunset, she decided to go find him and ask him if he was going to stay at the Cozy Cone or not. She drove out to find him, but he was no where around. Sally went to Flo's and noticed that Sheriff was there, but Lightning wasn't.

"Sheriff, where's Lightning?"

"Oh, Mater is watching the prisoner tonight."

"Hmph," Flo said, "_the prisoner _has a name, you know."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Sheriff replied, annoyed.

"Well, do you know where they went?" Sally questioned.

"With Mater, who knows!" Flo said. "Why do you want to know?" she asked, suspicious.

"Oh, I just wanted to know if he was going to stay at the Cozy Cone or not." And with that she left, before Flo could question her anymore.

For what felt like hours, Sally waited. She flipped through magazines, and got so caught up with things, she almost forgot about Mater and Lightning being gone. _Almost._

While she flipped through a magazine, she saw the light from headlights shine through her windows.

"Huh!" she gasped, "Customers!" She quickly drove over to the lightswitch to turn on her sign. First she got it on, but it said 'No Vacancy' ("Ooooh!"), then the entire sign went out ("Ugh!"), then just the 'no' came on ("urgh!"). Finally, she got the sign on the right way. She prepared herself to greet customers, but then heard a familiar voice.

"Tommorow we can go out and look for the ghost light!"

"I can't wait Mater," came a sarcastic reply.

Sally chuckled to herself and drove back into her office. But she made sure to be close enough to the window to hear the conversation. _ Sally, you shouldn't be doing this, _that little voice in her head pestered._ Why are you so curious anyway? _Sally decided to ignore the little voice and listen anyway.

"You gotta admit, that was fu-un!" Mater said.

"Oh yeah, yeah."

"Well we better get you back to the impound lot."

"Actually, Sally's gonna let me stay at the motel," Lightning said awkwardly.

"Oh, getting cozy at the cone, is we?" Mater teased.

"Oh, what? No! Are you kidding me? Besides she can't stand me. And I'm not too fond of her to be honest."

Sally's heart dropped like a stone. _Why should you care? It's like he said. You can't stand him anyway. Right?_

"Yeah, you're prolly right" Mater said. Then with a sly grin, Mater said "Hey look there's Miss Sally!"

Lightning spun around quickly and said excitedly, "Wha…where?!" He then realized what he did and his face sunk into a grim look while Mater laughed.

"You're in love with Miss Sally."

_What?_

"No I'm not."

"Yes."

"No way."

"Way."

"Oh, come on."

"You're in love with Miss Sally, you're in love with Miss Sally." Mater taunted while driving backwards facing Lightning.

_Huh?_

"Oh yeah, that's funny Mater. Yeah real mature." Lightning said, clearly embarrassed.

_No way…_

"You love her, you love her, you love her, love her…"

_Love? Wait, LOVE?!_

"Wait…wait…Mater….Mater…enough! Will you stop that?" Lightning asked.

"Stop what?" Mater asked.

"That driving backwards stuff, it's creeping me out. You're gonna wreck or something."

Mater stopped dead in his tracks. "Wreck? Shoot, I'm the world's best backwards driver! You just watch this right here lover boy." And with that, Mater took off driving backwards and dodging the motel cones and various other things. Sally watched, amused, as Mater drove by her office and as Lightning yelled.

"Whoa, take it easy Mater!"

Mater didn't even hear him. He dodged trees and other things and jumped so high his shadow was in the center of the moon. By now Lightning was more laughing than worrying.

"He's nuts!"

"Ain't no need to watch where I'm going," Mater said as he came full speed at McQueen and then flipped around and skidded to a halt just in front of him. "Just need to know where I've been."

"Whoa! That was incredible! How did you do that?" McQueen asked.

"Rear-view mirrors," Mater explained. "We'll get you some and I'll teach you if you want."

"Yeah," Lightning said, amused, "maybe I could use that in my big race."

"What's so special about this race of yours anyway?" Mater asked. Sally strained extra hard to hear what was said to this. _What was so important about this race he needed to get to?_

Lightning stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face Mater.

"It's not just a race. We're talking about the _Piston Cup_. I've been dreaming about it my whole life! I'll be the first rookie ever to win it. And when I do, we're talking _big_ new sponsor with private helicopters, no more medicated bumper ointment, no more rusty old cars…"

"What's wrong with rusty old cars?" Mater asked, sounding hurt.

Lightning turned to face him again. "I don't mean you, Mater, I mean other old cars, not like you, I like you."

"Ah, its ok buddy" Mater said. Brightening up, he said "Hey you think maybe one day I could get a ride in one of them fancy hel-i-copters? I mean I've always wanted to ride in one of those fancy hel-i-copters!"

"Oh, yeah sure," Lightning said coolly.

"You mean it?"

"Oh yeah, anything you say."

"I knew it. I knowed I made a good choice!"

"In what?" Lightning asked.

Mater replied "My best friend."

Sally saw Lightning smile, and again began to wonder about him. _Is he really sincere, or is he just putting it on until he leaves?_

Mater's voice snapped Sally out of her thoughts. "See you tomorrow, buddy! McQueen and Sally parked beneath a tree. K-I-S-somethin-somethin-somethin-T!"

Sally couldn't help but laugh, and it sounded like Lightning did, too. Then he went into reverse and drove backwards toward the cones.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Haha. Number one…Number one…ahhh, number one."

Sally drove up to cone number one, where Lightning was looking at one of the decorations.

"Hey Stickers?" At the sudden sound of her voice, Lightning jumped into the air and spun around, which also caused Sally to jump and scream.

"Whoa!"

"Ahhh! Oh, I'm sorry, I was just…"

"I didn't see you there! You gotta be careful…"

"I scared you scaring me scaring you!"

"Well I wasn't like scared, scared, I was just…"

"No, of course not," Sally said. "It's just I overheard you talking to Mater."

All of a sudden, he looked very uncomfortable. "When? Just…just now? What…what did…what did you hear?"

Sally decided to lie. "Oh, just something about a helicopter ride."

Lightning looked immediately relieved. "Oh yeah, he got a kick out of that, didn't he?"

"Did you mean it?"

"Mean what?"

"That you'll get him a ride?" Sally questioned.

"Oh, who knows. I mean first things first I gotta get out of here and make the race."

"Uh-huh. You know…Mater trusts you."

Lightning looked uncomfortable again. "Yeah, okay." he said, backing into his cone.

"Did you mean that?" Sally asked.

"What?"

"Was it just a yeah ok, or a _yeahhh_ ok, or a yeah, _ok_?"

"Look I'm exhausted," he said, "It's kinda been a long day."

"Yeah. Okay. Night." Just as she was driving away she heard his voice again.

"Hey. Thank you."

_What? Did he just say…?_ Sally hit the brakes and turned around to face him.

"What did you just say?"

For the third time that night, Lightning looked a little embarrassed. "I mean thanks for letting me stay here," he said, rubbing his tire on the ground. "It's nice to be out of the impound, and this is…it's great." Then he smiled. "Newly refurbished, right?"

_Did he just give me a compliment? A real compliment? Maybe he's not so bad after all. _

"Yeah." she replied, amazed.

"Night" he said, still smiling. _Oh, that smile!_

"Good-night." she answered back. Sally then turned around and headed back to her office, while the door on cone number one closed.


	12. His Decision

**Chapter Twelve: His Decision**

Sally awoke the next morning after a pleasant, but confusing dream. Her dream was filled with various visions of Lightning. She suddenly got that warm, fuzzy feeling again, just like when Lightning saw her tattoo, and when she got it the night before. She stayed up for hours after her "Night" from Lightning. _Wow, he seemed so sincere. He even said thank you for the room, and gave me a compliment. Maybe I was wrong on my judgement of him…And what was that "love" thing about, anyway? Could he really love me? _Sally saw Lightning try to deny Mater's accusations, but when Mater mentioned Sally being there, there was no faking the look that came on Lightning's face. Sally's breathing became deeper and her heart raced when she thought of his reaction._ I am so confused! This new car shows up, and I turn into a complete wreck!_ Sally decided to head out and peek to see if Lightning was awake yet. She quietly peered into the small window on the door, and saw Lightning having what must have been a nightmare. Lightning's eyelids were opening slightly and then closing, and his front tires where moving this way and that. Sally was worried, but knew he'd be okay. She decided to go off by herself and think about everything that was plaguing her, until Lightning woke up. She had an idea of something to make the car not think so badly of their town. _It's perfect. If he'll go. _She thought of the idea the night before, but had no idea where she'd get the courage to go and ask him.

After about fifteen minutes, the sound of Sarge playing "Reville" was heard throughout the area. His song was shortly interrupted by Fillmore, who was blasting music also.

"Will you turn that disrespectful junk off?" Sarge bellowed to his neighbor.

"Respect the classics, man!" Fillmore replied. "It's Hendrix!"

Sally figured Lightning must be up by now, so she headed back towards the Cozy Cone. As she passed Flo's, she didn't see him there. He cant still be sleeping, can he? She drove past cone number one, but the door was open and Lightning wasn't in sight. Huh. Maybe he went to Willie's Butte. Sally headed out to the butte where she looked over the cliff. The track was as empty as it always was before Lightning came. She sighed as she closed her eyes. _Where is he? Is he gone? _Then Sally heard the same high powered engine that she'd almost gotten used to, and the squeal of tires. She headed back to town, and quietly hid behind Flo's and peeked out from behind the building. The other cars had confused looks on their faces as Lightning, who was facing away from her, was frantically trying to tell them something. Then everyone but Lightning, broke out in laughter at what he had just said. This obviously wasn't the effect he had in mind, so he continued to try to explain something to them. Quietly, without anyone noticing her, Sally drove behind Lightning and hit the lever to fill him with gas with her tire.

"Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing?" Sheriff asked, bewildered.

"It's ok," Sally said, driving out of the shadows where Lightning noticed who was filling him up, "you can trust me right?"

"I trust you alright." Sheriff said, turning to McQueen. "But it's him I'm worried about."

"Mmm," Sally thought, "I trust him. Come on," she said, turning to Lightning, "let's take a drive."

Lightning just looked at her, questioning. "A drive?"

"Yeah, a drive," She explained. "Don't you big city race-cars ever just take a drive?"

"Ah, no. No, we don't." The pump kicked out after Lightning's tank was plump full. Sally drove past him and headed out onto the road, towards the courthouse. She heard Lightning's engine burst to life, and then idle. She turned around to see him staring off at the road in the opposite direction. The direction that led him to the interstate. To California. _To his race. Is he going to try and leave? _

"Hey, Stickers," Sally called back, "are you coming or what?" Sally then turned back around and headed down the road, leaving him to decide.


	13. A Drive With Lightning

**Chapter** **Thirteen: A Drive With Lightning**

"Ok, you got me out here, where we goin'?"

_He came! _Sally was ecstatic. Her heart had started racing the moment she heard his engine coming up to her.

"I don't know," she said, smiling. He gave her a questioning look and revved his engine to stay ahead of her. Sally looked at him, and then playfully revved her engine, too, propelling her in front of him. He once again revved his own engine and got ahead of her. Then Sally took off at full speed. Sally decided to try to have a little fun with the racecar, and hopefully show him that slowing down is nice, too. She heard him closing in on her as they entered a beautiful forest. They drove straight through a puddle, and Sally looked back to see Lightning shaking himself off. She laughed and tried to splash him as they came up to another puddle. Lightning laughed as he dodged her water, but then ran straight into a puddle of mud. Sally laughed as she saw his front bumper and hood covered in mud. He came along side her, but didn't notice the large pile of leaves in front of him until he hit them. Sally laughed even harder and sped up. Lightning passed her on a straightaway, leaves blowing off of his body as he went. _This is fun_, Sally thought. She hoped the racecar felt the same way. She saw him smiling as they took a few steep curves. On one curve, Lightning slowed down a little and let Sally pass him. Sally smiled as she drove past him, which he smiled back. They were coming up to the waterfall. Sally went through the tunnel and when she looked back, she was a good distance ahead of Lightning. _He must have slowed down. Surprising, for him. _Sally was driving in front of the waterfall when she looked back to Lightning and noticed he was staring at her, mouth open. He must have realized it, too, because he quickly shook his head and smiled a wide smile at Sally. Sally laughed when she saw his smile. His grill was covered in bugs! Sally laughed as she took the rest of the curves which led to her destination.


	14. The Wheel Well

**Chapter Fourteen: The Wheel Well**

As Sally faced the Wheel Well, she heard Lightning's motor kick out as he rolled to a stop next to her.

"What is this place?" he asked.

"Wheel Well. Used to be the most popular stop on the Mother Road."

"_This_ place?" he asked, skeptically.

"Yeah. Just imagine. Oh, imagine what it must have been like to stay here." She could feel Lightning's gaze examining her closely.

"You know, I don't get you. I mean, how does a Porsche wind up all the way out here?"

"Well, it's simple really," she said, driving into the lobby area. "I was an attorney in L.A. Living life in the fast lane."

"Oh, you were, were you? Were you rich?"

"What?" she asked after the sudden interruption.

"Just clues to the puzzle," he explained.

**"**Uh, yeah, okay. Well that was my life, and you know what?" she added, sadly. "It never felt…happy."

"Yeah," Lightning said, understandingly, but quickly caught himself. "I mean, really?"

"Yeah," Sally replied, unconvinced. She decided to continue. "So I left California. Just drove and drove and finally broke down right here. Doc fixed me up, Flo took me in. Well, they all did. And I never left."

As they drove back outside, Lightning came up alongside of her again.

"Well, yeah. I can see how you need a little R&R, recharge the old batteries, but after a while, why didn't you go back?"

Sally sighed. "I fell in love."

"Oh." Sally could hear the disappointment in Lightning's voice, and had to struggle to keep from giggling. She could just imagine what he thought.

"Yeah," she answered.

"Corvette?"

When Sally looked back, she saw a sort of dissapointed look in his eyes, and that amused her, that he would jump to that conclusion.

"No," she said, chuckling. She drove across the road and to the edge of the cliff. When Lightning got to her she said, "I fell in love with this." From their view, they could see all of Radiator Springs and the surroundings. They could even see the interstate.

"Wow!" Lightning exclaimed as he took in the view. "Look at that. They're driving right by, they don't even know what they're missing!" he said, referring to the traffic on the interstate.

"Well, it didn't used to be that way," Sally said, sadly.

"Oh yeah?" Lightning asked, seemingly interested.

"Yeah. Fifty years ago that interstate down there didn't exist."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Back then, cars came across the country in a whole different way."

"What do you mean?"

"Well the road didn't cut through the land like that interstate," she explained. "It moved with the land, you know it rose, it fell, it curved. Cars didn't drive on the road to make great time. They drove on it to _have_ a great time." Sally could only imagine what was going on in the racecar's thoughts. _Driving for fun must be very, very new to him. Most of his driving is work. _

After a short pause, Lightning continued. "Well, what happened?"

Sally gave a sad sigh. "The road got bypassed just to save ten minutes of driving." The two cars continued to sit by the side of the road. Sally was impressed with Lightning in a whole new way. She didn't really expect him to be so interested in her story about the town. She didn't even expect him to listen. But he did both, and that made Sally feel something…something she couldn't quite explain. After about five minutes, Sally was the first to speak.

"We should really be heading back." Lightning nodded a wordless agreement, and the two cars headed back to town in silence.


	15. He's Gone?

**Chapter Fifteen: He's Gone?**

As the two cars got back to Radiator Springs, they stopped just before the Cozy Cone and examined the town, side by side. Lightning was the first to break the silence.

"How great would it have been to have seen this place in its heyday, huh?"

"Oh I cant tell you how many times I've dreamed of that. But someday," she said hopefully, "we'll find a way to get it back on the map."

"Yeah." Lightning replied. "Hey thanks for the drive, I had a great time. It's kinda nice to slow down every once in a while," he said, gratefully.

"Your welcome" Sally answered. After a few moments of looking at each other, Sally decided to be the first to leave. She headed back to her office in a very good mood. Sally got inside and closed her eyes to think. _Wow, he really has changed. At first, I thought he wouldn't be worth my time. He really has had a positive effect on the town. And on me._ Sally still couldn't figure out the feeling she felt when she was around Lightning. She had an idea of what it was, but was afraid to admit it, even to herself.

Sally awoke a few hours later, not even knowing when she fell asleep. It was already almost dusk. She drove out to Flo's to fill up, and after talking to Flo for a while, she realized she was very tired again. _Probably because of your lack of sleep, due to those nights thinking about Stickers. _Sally said good night to the town and headed back to her office. That's when she realized she hadn't seen Lightning. Oh well, she thought, maybe he's off with Mater somewhere. Lightning was becoming more and more like a resident of the town, rather than a prisoner. Sally slept peacefully, drifting away with dreams of Stickers.

The next morning, Sally was awaken by a strange sense of something wrong. She drove outside and immediately realized the road was finished. She drove up to where Mater was standing at the end of the new road. Doc was just heading back to the town, while the rest of the cars were coming behind her. She saw Bessie, resting off to the side of the road. Lightning was no where in sight.

"He's gone?" Flo asked as she drove up to them.

"Well," Sheriff said, speaking up, "we wouldn't want him to miss that race of his."

Sally felt like her world came crashing down. She could feel the tears forming in her eyes as she turned around and drove back to the Cozy Cone.


	16. A New Customer

**Chapter Sixteen: A New Customer**

After a short while, Sally decided to head back outside. She dried her eyes and looked around for everyone. She saw the entire town crowded outside of Luigi's Casa Della Tires. They were all peering through the windows. Sally was curious, so she drove up to next to Flo.

"Would you look at that," Flo said as Sally looked to see what the fuss was about.

"Our first real customer in years!" Luigi exclaimed.

Sally was puzzled, but then she got a view of who they were looking at. Her heart lept with joy and her eyes widened in surprise as she looked at the 'new customer'. There, in the center of the room, was none other than Lightning McQueen. Luigi had him lifted off the ground on the lift, so his tires could be changed. Lightning looked towards Sally and gave her a small wink and a huge grin. Sally felt her eyes well up with fresh tears as she watched what happened in the store. _He stayed! He sacrificed his dream to stay here._

"Alright, Luigi," Lightning said as the jack lift raised him higher, "gimme the best set of black walls you've got!"

The jack dropped rather abruptly and Sally saw Lightning give Luigi a strange look as Luigi explained to the racecar.

"No, no, no. You don't know what you want. Luigi knows what you want" he said as he drove over to a special curtained section. "Black wall tires, they blend into the pavement. But these," he said as the curtain whipped back, "white wall tires! They say look at me, here I am, loooove me."

"Well, you're the expert," Lightning said, smiling. "Oh, and don't forget the spare."

"Perfecto. Guido!"

"Pit Stop!" the little forklift said, spinning his forks. Luigi grabbed his flag and Guido grabbed his impact wrench. Guido looked at Luigi, who counted him down. Then Guido waved the flag. Guido quickly took off Lightning's tires and in a few swift moves had Lightning's old tires replaced by shiny new white walls.

"What did Luigi tell you, eh?"

"Wow," Lightning said, looking at his wheels in a mirror, "you were right! Better that a Ferrari, huh?"

"Eh…no."

After Lightning got his tires changed, Sally tried to get to him to talk, but Flo drove up to her suddenly and told her she needed to go with her. Apparently, Flo found some cactus flower plant that she wanted to pick to spruce up the Café and the motel, too. Sally didn't want to go, but decided she could wait to talk to Stickers. (Later, of course, she found out that Flo hadn't really needed her, but that Lightning had asked her to take her away from town for a while.) When she finally got out to where Flo had seen the flowers, which was miles from town, Flo insisted that Sally pick the ones that were here, and Flo would go and look elsewhere for more. Sally didn't mind being left to herself and her own thoughts. With Flo gone, she could freely think about Lightning. After examining everything she had thought and now thought about him. Her thoughts about him had changed drastically in the past four days. After a few hours, she noticed Flo hadn't come back and the sun was starting to set. Sally decided to head back to town and check if Flo was there. Sally left the flowers in a neat pile and drove back toward Radiator Springs.


	17. Cruisin'

**Chapter Seventeen: Cruisin'**

"Hi Miss Sally!"

"Good evening, Sally!"

This and various other greetings met Sally as she drove up to where all the cars were lined up outside of Ramone's House of Body Art. She knew something screwy was going on.

"Ok, what's going on?"

"Ladies and gentle cars," Mater said, clearing his voice. "I give you the nneeeeewww Lightning McQueen!" As Mater drove away, Sally heard the revving of an engine and a repainted Lightning McQueen drove out.

"Ka-pow! What do you think? Radiator Springs looks pretty good on me."

"I'll say!" Sally said, laughing. "Arrr, Ka-chow! You're gonna fit right in in California," she said, as Lightning drove in a circle around her so she could admire him. His racing tires had been replaced by the white wall tires Luigi had suggested. He also had various bumper stickers from Lizzie's shop, and his stickers were painted over with a deep, glittering red. "Oh my gosh," Sally said when he stopped in front of her again, "it looks like you've helped everyone in town!" She could feel tears of happiness threatening to fall.

"Everybody except one," he said, looking at her bashfully. Sally's eyes widened with hope. "Hey, is it getting dark out?"

"What?" Lizzie asked from her porch. "What did he say?"

"Lemme try that again." Lightning faced towards Lizzie's shop and said, louder this time, "IS IT GETTING DARK OUT?"

"What was I supposed to do after that?" Lizzie asked, still confused. At least Red seemed to remember what to do, because he kicked the radio with his tire which immediately began playing an old tune. All of a sudden, the neon lights of the town began to light up one by one. Sally's eyes widened in shock.

_Life could be a dream,_

_Life could be a dream._

Sally turned around as Lightning came to her side. She gasped and said "They fixed their neon!"

_Life could be a dream_

_If I could take you up to paradise and above_

_If you would tell me I'm the only one that you love_

_Life could be a dream…_

"Low and slow?" Flo asked Ramone.

"Oh yeah, baby!" As they cruised close together, the other cars joined in too. _Wow. Lightning did all of this for me? _Sally looked over at him and her engine sped up a bit, just like it always did. Sally was finally realizing what this meant.

"Shall we cruise?" Lightning asked, snapping her back to reality.

Suddenly, Lizzie came out of no where. "Oh, thank you dear. I'd love to!"

"No, no, no…" Lightning said, being dragged off by Lizzie.

"Lizzie!" Sally shouted, but it was no use. Lizzie had already dragged him down the road.

"Well, hey there, Miss Sally! May I have this cruise?"

"Of course, Mater." As they drove up to the old stop light, Sally got another surprise.

"Ah, ah, ah," Sheriff said stopping them as the light that normally only flashed yellow turned red. Sally had never seen it any other color than yellow. As the tractors passed in front of her, Sally could see Lightning looking back, still being dragged by Lizzie. He was mouthing a sort of 'Sorry, help me!' to her, and she laughed.

"Hey Mater. Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure Miss Sally!"

"Go fetch Lightning from Lizzie for me."

"Sure thing, Miss Sally!" As Mater drove off, Sally watched as Mater hooked him from behind and began towing him back. She turned around and faced the other way just as a surprised Lightning stopped beside her. He looked confused, but then noticed where he was.

"Hey!" he said, happily.

"Thanks, Mater!"

"Good evening, you two," Mater said slyly, winking and backing away.

Sally and Lightning looked at each other for a moment.

_Whoa, Life could be a dream!_

_Sh-Boom if I could take you up to paradise and above!_

_Sh-Boom and tell me darling I'm the only one that you love!_

_Life could be a dream!_

_Sweetheart, hello, hello again…_

Then, almost hesitantly, Lightning slightly leaned in and nuzzled her fender. Sally's engine shot up a few notches. He backed away slightly, looking unsure, as if he didn't know how she'd respond. Sally reassured him by leaning into his fender. A smile of relief and happiness came across Lightning's face as she closed her eyes with a smile of contentment. Sally then admitted to herself her true feelings for him. _This must be love. I love him. I can't lie to myself anymore. It's time for the truth. I'm in love with Lightning McQueen._

"Is that what I think it is?" Flo asked from behind her.

"Oh, I don't know, Flo," Sally replied, still nuzzling with Stickers. "I haven't had a chance to find out, but I'm going to find out, hello." she said, pressing further into McQueen.

"Not that," Flo clarified, "That!" Sally looked down the road to see what she was talking about. She saw bright lights coming towards the town.

"Customers?" she said, breathlessly. _Maybe this is our big break! The town looks great tonight! Maybe we'll get back on the map!_ Lightning and Sally reluctantly broke away from each other as they drove a few feet further on the road.

"Customers, everybody! And a lot of them!" Flo announced. "You know what to do, just like we rehearsed!" Suddenly, a blinding light came from the sky, pointed directly on them.

"It's the ghost light!" Mater screamed.

Then a voice from above came down upon them.

"We have found McQueen! We have found McQueen!"


	18. Goodbye

**Chapter Eighteen: Goodbye**

Suddenly, instead of being by his side, Sally was being pushed further and further away from Lightning. The arrival of many reporters, camera cars and T.V crews (along with the helicopters shinning their bright lights), stunned Sally. One minute she was admitting that she was in love with Lightning, and the next moment, she was being pushed away. It took her a moment to come to her senses and notice this. Sally heard him trying to make sense of the questions that were coming left and right.

"Are you still going to race for the Piston Cup?"

"McQueen's wearing white walls!"

"Did you have a nervous breakdown, McQueen?"

"What? Excuse me?" Lightning said, confused.

"Stickers!" Sally shouted through the crowd. "McQueen!"

He must have noticed too that she was gone, for he also started yelling.

"Sally? Sally?!"

Then a loud honking came and the crowd parted for a large semi with a big trailer.

"You're here!" the truck shouted. "Thank the manufactorer you're alive!"

"Mack?" McQueen asked, a disbelieving smile breaking over his face. As 'Mack' turned around, Sally saw what was painted on his trailer. Covering the entire side of the trailer was a large picture of a cocky-smiled Lightning McQueen with lightning bolts flanking him. At that moment, something in Sally clicked. _Wow, I always knew racing was big, but this…I…He has such a wild life, almost like the one I left behind. I can't go back to the way my life was…but…_ Sally decided to go around Lightning's trailer and go to the side where there were no reporters. Lightning was apparently talking to someone on a phone while Mack kept the reporters away. Then Lightning noticed her and began to drive toward her.

"Just hold on a second, Harv."

"Hey! Where you going? Get in the trailer baby! You want a bigger trailer…?" the phone continued to ramble on, but to Sally, everything seemed to become very quiet.

"Look Sally, I want you to…I wish…." Sally watched as he struggled with his words.

"Thank you. Thanks for everything," she said, trying to keep away the tears and bring up a smile. Lightning gave a small laugh.

"It was just a road."

"No," Sally said, with a sad smile. "It was much more than that." Lightning looked up at her and she saw the surprise and the sad shock in his eyes. Then Mack came around to where they were.

"Hey, kid. Harv's going crazy! He's going to have me fired if I don't get you into the truck right now!" Sally knew he had to leave.

"You should go. Good luck in California," she said, the tears now on the edge of falling. She looked into his eyes and saw the pain and hurt, and knew that she must look the same. "I hope you find what you're looking for." Sally reversed and started to drive away.

"Sally? Sally!" Lightning called to her, but she was already gone. She had just gotten away when their quiet area was bombarded with reporters. Sally forced herself not to cry, so instead of going back to her office, she went and sat by a pump at Flo's. After a few seconds, she heard the firing of an engine as Mack slowly started down the road with Lightning in the trailer. Sally sighed, and then caught sight of Doc emerging from behind Ramone's. _I was wondering where he was. I didn't see him when we were cruising. Of course, I wasn't paying attention, because of Lightn… _Sally stopped herself from thinking of that, and focused back onto Doc. A news car was talking to him. She moved a little closer so she could hear what they were saying.

"Hey," the female car asked, "are you Doc Hudson?"

"Yeah," the old car replied gruffly.

"Thanks for the call." As the car drove away, Sally sat there shocked. _The call? He called them? How could he?_ Doc must have noticed Sally looking at him, because he faced her.

"You called them?" Sally asked, disbelieving.

"It's best for everyone, Sally," he replied.

"Best for everyone?" she answered, glaring. "Or best for you?"

Sally drove down the road and stopped by the driveway for the Cozy Cone. She watched the lights and Lightning's trailer heading down the road and out of sight. For a moment, she seriously considered speeding down the road, catching the trailer, and begging Lightning not to leave. But she knew she couldn't do that, so she reversed and went to her door. She stopped to turn off the sign. Sally couldn't stand holding them back anymore, so she drove into her office, shut the door, and allowed her tears fall freely.


	19. Change Of Heart

**Chapter Nineteen: Change Of Heart**

Sally didn't feel like getting up. She didn't feel like ever leaving her office. She didn't want to talk to anyone in the town, especially Doc. Sally didn't care if she never talked to Doc again. _That's a little harsh, I mean, if it wasn't for him and everyone else in the town, I would still be broken down on the side of that road. But still… _Sally was still very angry and confused by what Doc had done the night before. She figured from the beginning that Doc didn't like Lightning, but she didn't understand why he was still against him even when everyone else was beginning to like him. Sally had a feeling Doc wasn't telling them something, but never bothered to ask him. Sally didn't feel like bothering with anything today, but she knew she had to leave sooner or later. It early morning and Sally had hardly slept a wink the night before. She kept waking up in between dreams and visions of Lightning; Lightning at Willie's Butte, Lightning paving the road, Lightning in the motel, Lightning at the Wheel Well, Lightning under the lights, Lightning leaving… Sally had to force the tears back as she opened the door and drove out of her office. Today was the day of Lightning's big race. He probably forgot about the town and her already. Sally sighed as she drove toward Flo's.

When she got there, she noticed most of the cars were sitting around at Flo's. When Doc spotted her, he tried to get her to stop, but she continued down the road.

"Sally," the gruff voice called. "Wait, Sally." Sally couldn't talk to him. She headed down the road and stopped when she got to the cliff of Willie's Butte. She heard the sound of tires crunching on the gravel behind her as uncontrollable tears fell from her eyes.

"Sally, let me explain," the Hudson said as he came up next to her.

"How…how could you?" she stuttered between tears. "How could you take him away? We were all so happy…he made us all so happy…he made me…" Sally started to sob uncontrollably, and Doc waited until her sobs subsided, then continued.

"Sally, there's something that I haven't told anyone. It's about my past. When I was younger, I was a race car, same as Lightning. Yes, I know," he said, catching her shocked gaze, "hard to believe. I was in the Piston Cup Series, and I had won three championships in 1951, '52, and '53. It was the second race in the 1954 series, when I wiped out and was wrecked for the season." Doc sighed and closed his eyes, and then continued. "I got fixed up and I went back the next year. I expected a big welcome, but they told me I was history. Moved right on to the next rookie standing in line. There was a lot left in me that I never got a chance to show. When Lightning came to town, he reminded me of the life I left…the life that left me. I knew that he was exactly what I used to be, self centered, arrogant…I didn't want anyone to depend on him because I knew he couldn't be trusted. He found out about my past, and I didn't want him to spread the news, so I called the press and tipped them that he was staying here." Sally gave Doc a disbelieving look. "But I was wrong, Sally. That's why I'm going to California."

"What?"

"I'm going to California. I want to try to make it up to him." Doc paused for a moment. "Well, we should be heading back. We've got to tell the others."

When they got back to the town, Doc gathered around all the cars at Flo's. He recapped the story that he had told Sally. Once the town got over their initial shock, Doc got serious.

"Okay, so we're going to California. Of course you're coming, Mater. Luigi, Guido, it'll be your chance to do a real pit stop. Sheriff, we're going to need a police escort," Doc explained as Sheriff nodded, "I think it would be best if Red and Lizzie stayed here in town. Sarge, Fillmore, Flo, we're going to need you too. Ramone, I'm going to need a special favor." As Doc and Ramone drove off to the House Of Body Art, Sally was thinking over everything that had happened over the past few hours. Oh my gosh, as if things weren't complicated enough!

About an hour later, Ramone emerged from his shop with a red paint scheme with a large lightning bolt down the side. Behind him was Doc, painted up in his racing colors. He had various racing stickers on his frame, which made Sally think of Lightning once again. They were the reason for his nickname, Stickers. The stickers on Doc included a large 'Fabulous Hudson Hornet' and a big number 51 on his side. He looked glorious. Doc headed towards Sally.

"Sally, it's your call. You can go or you can stay."

Sally thought about it, but decided to stay behind with Red and Lizzie. About five minutes later, everyone was ready to go.

"Ok everyone, move out! Sheriff, lead the way," Doc announced. "Sally, channel 17 should have the race. It's up to you, if you want to watch." Sally nodded and Doc and the others headed down the road towards the interstate.


	20. The Race

**Chapter Twenty: The Race**

"…a three way battle between The King, Chick Hicks, and Lightning McQueen for the Piston Cup Championship."

"…There's nearly 300,000 cars here today!" Darrell Cartrip exclaimed. "Tickets for this race are hotter than a black leather seat on a hot summer day!"

The pre-race coverage was just beginning as Sally had turned on the television. So far, they hadn't said anything about Lightning, but Sally knew they would soon. Sure enough, suddenly a camera had zoomed into the back door of his trailer. Sally's heart sped up as Lightning emerged from his trailer and made his way to the track.

"…There he is, Lightning McQueen, missing all week. He finally turned up in a little town called Radiator Springs."

"Wearing white wall tires of all things!" Darrell Cartrip said, a laugh in his voice. Sally was surprised that they had mentioned Radiator Springs on national television. Sally watched as the three cars, a sleek, older blue car, a mean looking green car, and Lightning, warmed their tires by swerving back and forth. The broadcasters were talking about how this would be this King's last race. Sally figured the King was the older blue car. When the green flag dropped, The King and Chick (the other car) sped off, but Lightning seemed to zone out for a minute. He shook himself and put on a burst of speed. _What was that about? _

About fifty laps into the race, the King was still leading. Lightning had caught back up to Chick and was trying to pass, when Chick swerved in front of him, causing Lightning to lose some ground. _Oh Lightning, be careful! _

"Chick slammed the door on him!"

"He's not making it easy on McQueen today."

"Oh, he lost so much ground! Now he's gonna have to chase him back down!" Darrell exclaimed. Sally watched as Lightning got back up to Chick's bumper, but all of a sudden, Lightning veered right. He narrowly missed the wall and spun into the grass. _Oh Doc, guys, please hurry!_ Sally hoped that they crew got there before Lightning seriously damaged himself. The cameras zoomed in on Lightning, who was back on the track. They then went back to coverage of the other two cars. When they showed Lightning again, he had a look of determination on his face. Something must have happened while they were showing the other cars. They continued to show the race footage until one of the Bob Cutlass brought attention to the pits.

"Well Darrell, it looks like McQueen has a pit crew, and look who he's got for a crew chief!" The camera zoomed to where Doc sat atop the pit box with a set of headphones on. The crowd in the stands went wild at the sight of the long lost legend. Mater, Luigi, Ramone, Sheriff, Sarge, and the whole crew were there.

"It's the Hudson Hornet!"

"Wow," Bob Cutlass said, "this is history in the making! No one has seen the racing legend in almost fifty years!"

"Hey Doc!" Lizzie called behind her, startling Sally and Red. "Come look at this fella' on the radio. He looks just like you!" Sally and Red shared a laugh and a smile, and then turned their attention back to the screen. Lightning had just passed the leaders to get back on the lead lap.

With about eleven laps to go, Lightning had caught the other two cars. He began passing the green car, when it swung and hit him in the back fender, spinning Lightning completely around. But Lightning wasn't out yet. He threw himself into reverse, yes _reverse_, and got in front of Chick going backwards. This got an astounded look from Chick, and a wink from Lightning as he spun himself around, now in second place.

"An amazing comeback from Lightning McQueen!"

"Aww, yeah. This is what its all about! A three-way battle for the lead with ten to go!" Darrell exclaimed.

Chick started trying to pass Lightning again, but couldn't get around, so he decided to try and shove Lightning into the wall, but he wouldn't budge. Suddenly there was a bang and a cloud of smoke, and Lightning's back end was bouncing wildly. Lightning headed towards the pits with a flat tire when the yellow flag waved, which meant a caution. Sally was really starting to not like Chick, and realized that racing was a lot harder than it seemed. The pace car pulled out in front of the other two cars. Lightning had to get out in front of the pace car otherwise he wouldn't have a chance. Sally watched as he got to his pit stall and Guido performed the fastest pit stop ever. He threw the tires up in one swift move and had them on before they even hit the ground.

"Wow, that was amazing!" Darrell yelled, excited.

"That was the fastest pit stop I've ever seen!" Bob agreed.

"It was a great pit, but he still has to make it out before that pace car!" Darrell shouted.

"It's gonna be close!" Bob exclaimed.

Lightning sped away and just barely made it out in front of the pace car. Sally gave a cheer of happiness.

As the green flag waved once more, Lightning was right behind the leaders, and stayed there for a few laps. Then, when the white flag came out, he made his move. Chick tried to block him, but Lightning got by him. Chick swung low and spun out Lightning and also hit The King, causing him and The King to become loose.

"And Chick and The King are loose!" Bob Cutlass shouted.

"I think McQueen is out of the race!"

Sally watched as he was sent sliding across the grass, but then he turned his wheels right, and slid across the grass and back onto the track…in first place. He burst ahead of the other two cars and was far in the lead. Sally couldn't believe her eyes. _He's going to win!_

"Come on! You got it! You've got it, Stickers!" Then suddenly, farther back, Chick hit The King in the rear and The King was airborne, rolling and coming to a rest in a wrecked heap in the infield. The crowd went silent and Sally gasped in horror. Then the cameras went back to Lightning, who was looking up at the screen. He hit his brakes and stopped just in front of the finish line. Chick zoomed by him and won the race. _What is he doing? _Sally wondered as Lightning sat at the line, staring ahead. Then he put himself into reverse and went to where The King was resting. He went behind him and began to push him towards the finish line.

"Hey Darrell," Bob Cutlass asked, "is pushing on the last lap legal?"

"He's not pushing him! He's just giving him a little bump draft!" Sally watched as the crowd exploded in cheers when Lightning pushed The King across the line.

"That's my hot rod," Lizzie said watching the TV. Sally's eyes were filled with tears as she watched Lightning pushed the other car to the infield. She had a new level of respect for the race car. _Wow. He gave up his dream, his childhood dream, to help a friend. I can't believe he'd do that. _


	21. Home Again

**Chapter Twenty-One: Home Again**

Sally awoke the next day and drove out of her office. She had watched all the post race coverage the day before, and they had even interviewed Doc, Mater, and a few of the others. They had gotten back from the race late last night. Of course, Lightning wasn't with them, and a part of her was saddened and disappointed, but another part of her knew this would probably happen. Sally knew she would probably never see him again, but she would never forget the race car who had stolen her heart.

Sally decided to take a drive up to the Wheel Well. The drive always helped her clear her mind. The morning sky was a bright blue…the same color of Lightning's eyes. Sally drove on, past the cars at Flo's and where Luigi and Guido were in their store. On her way up, Sally's mind continued to drift to the drive she had taken with Lightning, and how much fun they had.

When she got to the Wheel Well, she stopped outside of it and stared up at the massive structure. The simple beauty of the motel and the location always amazed her. It was a shame that it was sitting here, rotting away without anyone to stay in it_. Now that they mentioned Radiator Springs on the television, maybe people will come check it out… another thing to thank Lightning for…oh, I miss him. _

Just as Sally sighed, she heard a familiar rev of an engine. _It cant be! _She gasped and turned quickly as a smile erupted on to her face when she recognized who it was. On the road in front of her stood Lightning, in a new paint scheme. His paint was the same dark, glittery red Ramone had painted him the night he left. His sponsor sticker was on his hood, as before, but his side decals were far fewer and were on the bottom of his body, and the 95 on his side was a different style. It was towards his rear fender and was black encircled in white. He looked just as handsome as he always did, if not more. He gave a little laugh at the startled look on Sally's face.

"Just passing through?" Sally asked, trying to contain her excitement.

"I thought I'd stop and stay awhile," he answered casually, driving up to her. "I hear this place is back on the map."

Sally gave him a questioning look. "It is?"

"Yeah. Some rumor going around that some hot shot Piston Cup race car is setting up his big racing headquarters here."

"Really?!" Sally couldn't contain her happiness, but quickly caught herself. "Oh, well there goes the town," she said, trying to play it off.

Lightning suddenly became serious. "You know I really missed you, Sally."

Her heart rate sped up. "Well I create feelings they themselves don't understand," she said, quoting the first time they met, "and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah…"

Lightning chuckled as he inched closer to her. _He's going to kiss me! Wait, am I going to kiss him?_ Sally didn't care which way it was, and soon she was just inches away from Lightning. Then, out of the blue, a voice startled them, causing them to jump back from each other.

"McQueen and Sally, parked beneath a tree! K-I-S-S…uh…I-N-T!" Mater yelled from the inside of a big blue helicopter. Sally was disappointed, but not angry. Nothing in the world could go wrong today.

"Great timing, Mater!" Lightning yelled to him, sarcastically. Mater yelled something that was too hard to understand, and Sally laughed as Lightning turned to her.

"He's my best friend, what are you gonna do?" Sally giggled once again and then got a crazy idea.

"So, Stickers," she said, rubbing her tire in the dirt, "last one to Flo's buys?"

"I don't know. How bout a nice leisurely drive?"

"Hmm, nah!" Sally said as she took off in a cloud of dust. She heard Lightning behind her and for the first time in her life, felt truly happy.


	22. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

The next few months went by in a blur for Sally. The town got customers once again, as it was marked as a Historic Route 66 destination. Sarge started an SUV boot camp, and the town turned one of the old motels into a racing museum, complete with a Doc Hudson wing. Lightning's racing headquarter building was built behind the drive in movie theater, which was also restored to working condition. Doc was training Lightning hard for the next season of racing, and they were determined to win the Piston Cup. Sally also reopened the Wheel Well Motel, with a lot of help from Lightning. It was an instant hit. After coming back to Radiator Springs, Lightning and Sally started dating, and and the press dubbed her McQueen's official girlfriend. Sally had finally found true love and happiness from the place, or car, she least expected it.


End file.
